Want to get a chameleon...

[TamponTea]

I want to get a chameleon and I'm interested how much money does it cost to take care of one? I looked up just the cages and they seem very high priced.. Can anyone recommend where to get a cage at decent price maybe a kit? What do they eat? What is a good beginner chameleon to start with?

 

[mcbdz]

Hello and welcome to the board. First I'd like to say you came to the right place. And you are doind the right thing. Trying to find out about their care before just running out and buting one. You can find most anything on these boards and google. May want to start reading here to get a general idea.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/general-care-true-chameleons-5943/
then just cantinue to read here and learn as much as you can. You discover which one is your favorite and then look up their specific care before perchacing . Hope this gets you started and have fun.

 

[TamponTea]

Hello and welcome to the board. First I'd like to say you came to the right place. And you are doind the right thing. Trying to find out about their care before just running out and buting one. You can find most anything on these boards and google. May want to start reading here to get a general idea.
https://www.chameleonforums.com/general-care-true-chameleons-5943/
then just cantinue to read here and learn as much as you can. You discover which one is your favorite and then look up their specific care before perchacing . Hope this gets you started and have fun.

Thank you

 

[GabeCastro]

My Set Up Price List

Welcome to the forums!

Man i'm on a roll today! lol

I spent about $1,100 bucks upfront throughout the day buying everything including my panther chameleon.

My prices are if you were to buy everything brand new w/ NO tax. You always have option to build your own enclosures, mist systems, etc.

Chameleons: (common types)
- Panthers $200-$600
- Veiled $60-$250

Enclosures:
- Small $40-$60
-Medium $60-$100
-Large/XL $70-$150

Foilage:
- Jungle Vine $10-$15 (usually i buy 4 so, roughly $60 bucks on just jungle vine)
- Cured Branch $10-$20
- Fake Vines $6-$15 (usually i'll buy 2-3, roughly $30 bucks)
- Fake Plants $10-$20 (same as the others)

Lights:
- 18" ReptiSun 5.0 UVB bulb $25-$35
- 20" Zoo Med ReptiSun Terrarium Hood $25-$40
- 50w-75w ZooMed Basking Light $7-$10
- Flukers/Other Brand 5.5" Clamp Lamp w/ ceramic base $10-$20
- Analog/Digital Timer $7-$30

Lights for an Adult:
- 24" ReptiSun 5.0 UVB bulb $30-$50
- 30" Zoo Med ReptiSun Terrarium Hood $30-$60
- 50w-75w ZooMed Basking Light $7-$10
- Flukers/Other Brand 10" Clamp Lamp w/ ceramic base $15-$20
- Analog/Digital Timer $7-$30

Enclosure for Sub-Adult/Adult:
-Medium $60-$100
-Large/XL $70-$150 (18" x 18" x 36") or (2' x 2' x 4')

Misters:
- MistKing Starter Mist System $100-$125 (only one i recommend)
- Black 5 Gallon Bucket (Black decreases photosynthesis which allows algae to grow)
- Fishtank heat emitter for 5 gallon bucket (Optional) $10-$25

Analog/Digital Thermostats:
- ZooMed Digital Thermostat w/ Humidity gage $10-$15 ( I personally use 2, one near a basking spot and one wherever)
- ZooMed Analog Thermostat w/ Humidity age $6-$13 (Usually i'll have 1 because they're not as accurate as the digital ones)

Water Drippers:
- ZooMed Little Dripper $10
- ZooMed Big Dripper $12-15
- Home Made - Free

Drainage System: (Usually hand made, used to collect water from mistings)
- PVC pipe build $20-$50
- Large pot saucer $5-$15
- You'll figure it out...

Vitamins:
- Rep-Cal Calcium W/ D3 $6-$10
- Rep-Cal Calcium W/OUT D3 $6-$10
- Rep-Cal Herptivite Multivitamin $6-$10
- Other Vitamins $5-$10

Feeder Insects:
- Crickets $1 for 10 average. I buy 100 at a time so $10 bucks
- Dubia Roaches $.50 cents - $.75 cents each)
- Hornworms $10-$15 excluding shipping
- Silkworms $5-$10 excluding shipping
- Waxworms $5-$10
- Super Worms $5-$10
- Mealworms (not recommended) $5-$8
- Misc. Insects $5-$20 excluding shipping

Feeder Insect Foods (Gutloads):
- Flukers Gut load cubes Green/Orange (highly don't recommend these) $5-$10
- Cricket Crack $10-$30
- DinoFuel $13-$15
- Mixed fruits and veggies (look more into gutloading) $10-$20

Insect Housing:
- Large cricket containers $10-$25
- Large Roach containers $10-$25


PLEASE Don't be scared to get a chameleon. I think everyone should have a chance on raising a cham! You should be fine with all the members here on the forums. There are tons of care sheets. If you have questions just "Google" them and make sure you include chameleonforums in the search bar. Also theres a search feature on the forums which would be your best friend.

I wish was able to get a list like the one i gave you, i wrote it myself just now. Hopefully i covered everything and got everything. Hopefully other members chime in and say what not to get, cheaper options, etc. Theres always the option to make things yourself for allot cheaper.

What type of chameleon are you interested in getting? Panther, Veiled, Giant Spiny, Meller, etc.

 

[TamponTea]

@GabeCastroYo wow... thanks a lot for writing all that lol , damn that's a ton of money u spent lol I don't want to spend 1,000 , im interested in getting a veiled chameleon. What kind do you have? Did you buy it at the pet store?

 

[Meow Kitty]

@GabeCastroYo wow... thanks a lot for writing all that lol , damn that's a ton of money u spent lol I don't want to spend 1,000 , im interested in getting a veiled chameleon. What kind do you have? Did you buy it at the pet store?

you can save money by building your own screen cages, buying fixtures from other places besides pet stores, the expensive stuff is the UV lighting and the interior items, i got my Veiled at a pet store for 40$, make sure they look healthy (green, alert, moving around, eyes open, not sleeping)
and of course you have to have money to feed him and buy supplements, its also very important to gutload.

 

[GabeCastro]

Hah, yeah i went a bit overboard. But i figured people would recycle my post for new members. Allot of it was copied and pasted from check off lists i had when i went shopping.

I spent allot because i wanted to make sure i had everything with top quality. You can buy complete cage set ups with everything for $275-$500 some w/mistking misters. Just look through chameleon breeder sites such as LLLREPTILES.COM, FLCHAMS.COM, SCREAMELEONS.COM, Etc. They'll have complete cage set ups so you won't have to go out and buy everything individually like i did.

Nice, My next chameleon might be a veiled, But i bought a panther chameleon at a reptile store. (a nightmare, don't buy a panther from a petshop...)Look through the forums for breeders or those sites i listed!

 

[HolyToledo]

Welcome to the forum! Kudos to you for doing the research before just running out and getting one and depending on the seller's advice! Pet store advice is usually not very good.

Do lots of research on here and know what you are getting into care-wise as well as getting the right set-up. Especially the kinds of bugs and fruits and veggies that you can feed the bugs and your cham. Sandrachameleon's blogs are great for nutrition info. Healthy diet is most important as well as lighting and water and cage. I even eat better now because I have to buy more fruits and veggies for them but they don't eat that much at a time.

Cham keeping can get pretty expensive. You can shop around and get better deals on the stuff that you need but please don't try saving money by doing without things that are important for taking care of a cham. It will only kill the cham or cost you lots of money for vet bills later... better to spend the money and get what you need ahead of time and get everything ready (set up and maintained properly) and then get a cham to bring home.

Hope you have a wonderful time with your cham-keeping.